After disappointment in UFC 214 debut, Jarred Brooks to 'fight like a god' next time

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jarred Brooks his not happy with the performance he delivered in his UFC debut, despite picking up the win.

Brooks (13-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned a split-decision victory over Eric Shelton (10-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 214 card, which took place at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FXX and UFC Fight Pass.

The debuting flyweight, who was part of the early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, talked a lot of smack in the lead-up to the contest. The result narrowly went his way, but he pointed to feeling off in the days prior to the event as one of the reasons behind what he considered an underwhelming effort. He promised to do much better in his sophomore outing.

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“I felt like crap leading up to the fight, but everything happens for a reason,” Brooks said after his win. “Usually when I do things first off, I do things really (expletive) – then I always end up doing really good. I beat a qualified opponent. Eric Shelton is really good. … Hats off to him. He’s a hell of an opponent. Hopefully in the future I will show a better form of Jarred Brooks. They call me ‘The Monkey God.’ I’m going to come out there and fight like a god in the future.”

Brooks said his long layoff also contributed to his performance. He was originally scheduled to make his UFC debut on short notice against Ian McCall at UFC 208 in February, but the matchup fell apart on fight day when “Uncle Creep” was hospitalized with illness.

He doesn’t want another similar break between fights, and said he hopes the UFC will book him again immediately.

“I haven’t fought in almost year,” Brooks said. “People like Ian McCall, I wish I could have fought Ian in February. I felt a lot better leading up to that fight. Eric Shelton is a hell of an opponent, hell of a striker. He’s well-rounded. Thank God for giving me that win, but expect more out of me, guys. I’m going to come out, and I’m going to bring the ruckus within the next few months.

“Hopefully they can get me a fight every two months. I’m like ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. I only weigh about 129. I’m probably weighing around 125 sopping wet right now. If they’re putting me to fight in the next two months, two weeks – whatever.”

If Brooks can’t get a quick fight, though, he has a more longterm plan. He would like to fight on the rumored December UFC card in Detroit, and he named Magomed Bibulatov (14-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Ben Nguyen (17-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) as two opponents he’d like to face in the 125-pound division.

“I’m ready to go,” Brooks said. “I would really like to fight Magomed Bibulatov in Detroit in December or Ben Nguyen. I think those are really good fights for me in the future.”

On March 19, 2011, 23-year-old Jon Jones brutalized UFC light heavyweight champion “Shogun” Rua to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history. But for Jones, it was only the start of a wild ride that at times spun out of control.